The operation was ordered by prosecutors in the Sardinia region, and executed by special operation anti-terrorism force DIGOS in at least seven
provinces, including Sassari, Cagliari, Rome, Macerata, and Bergamo, police said.

Nine people were arrested, while the others were still being searched.

All suspects are Pakistan or Afghan nationals, and they were variously charged with criminal association for international terrorism purposes, other
terrorism charges, and migrant trafficking, prosecutors in Cagliari said at a press conference.

Some of the them were directly involved in "several acts of terrorism in Pakistan" carried out between March and November 2011, plus the car bomb
attack that killed over 130 people in a Peshawar market in October 2009, according to the probe.

Two suspects were also thought to have been members of the network protecting Osama Bin Laden, who was killed by U.S. special forces in Pakistan in
2011.

"Several wiretaps indicated direct contacts between the families of some of the suspects and Osama Bin Laden," prosecutor Mauro Mura said.

The group's main goal was to finance terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan in order to "intimidate the population in Pakistan and force the government
there to give up its contrast to Taliban militias and its support of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan," a police statement said.

Italy's interior minister Angelino Alfano said of the operation, "It shows our system works well, and the Italian state is strong and capable of
tackling terrorist networks," he told RAI state television.

Telephone wiretaps among the cell's members indicated a Pakistan suicide bomber was in Italy in 2010, and DIGOS investigators at the press conference
said they were not ruling out the possibility that the Vatican was a target during the man's stay in the country.

Among those arrested on Friday was a Muslim religious leader, or imam, operating between the northern cities of Bergamo and Brescia, who allegedly
helped the group by collecting funds among Pakistani and Afghan communities in Italy. Another imam in the Sardinian city of Olbia was also arrested.

The alleged terrorist cell was systematically engaged in helping Pakistani and Afghan migrants enter Italy illegally, as a way to both recruit people
and gather illegal funds, investigators said.

Some of the migrants went on to northern European countries, while others stayed in Italy through securing fake work visas, or as asylum seekers.

"We believe this activity of illegal immigration was very important, because it allowed the group to gather large financial resources to fuel
terrorist activities in Pakistan through a whip round system," prosecutor Mura explained.

These resources were mainly destined for Pakistan, yet the Italian cell would have gained some 6,000 euros (about 6,515 U.S. dollars) on average with
each illegal migrant entry into the country.

"We have evidence of several trips made to Pakistan, with 20 to 30 thousand euros on average being sent to 'cousin' groups there, and we have also
evidence of another system of money transfers, the so-called hawala system, being used by them through several trustees in different countries,"
prosecutor said.

In one case, investigators discovered that over 55,000 euros were sent via a flight from Rome to Islamabad.

DAMASCUS, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Military checkpoints in Damascus ramped up their inspection measures on Tuesday, a day after armed militants infiltrated
into a northern district in the Syrian capital, witnesses said.

A small group of insurgents in camouflages sneaked into the Rukn Addien neighborhood, north of Damascus, on Monday, attacking a Syrian military
facility.

One of the assailants was a suicide bomber who detonated near the military logistics facility.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blast injured a brigadier who is the head of the military facility, but local reports
said later that the officer escaped unscathed.

Syria's state-run TV aired footage after the incident, showing the bodies of assailants, with a caption reading that the army had foiled the attack
and killed all of the attackers.

Even though the attack had largely failed, the incident itself showed the possibility of further breaches into the capital.

Local media said the assailants passed through checkpoints with fake military IDs.

The beefed up security measures have snarled traffic in Damascus as each car scrutinized, especially those with men in military uniform.

Local media said all uniformed military personnel are required produce identifications, including where they are serving.

Witnesses and pro-government media said the soldiers are also confiscating unauthorized motorcycles in the capital.

The al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, which has recently made notable progress against government troops, claimed responsibility for Monday's attack,
saying three of its militants were involved.

The group and likeminded militants have over the past month stripped the government forces of key areas in northwestern Syria and a border crossing
with Jordan.

On Monday, the group announced the start of a campaign against Syrian forces and the allied Lebanese Hezbollah fighters in Qalamoun, a mountain range
in the northern countryside of Damascus, close to the Lebanese border.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported intense clashes in the slopes of Qalamoun between the Nusra Front and allied militants on one side
and Hezbollah and Syrian troops on the other.

The opposition Sham Network also reported the beginning of the battles